Illini's Derek Dimke and Tim Russell forming a winning combination

Tuesday

Aug 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMAug 30, 2011 at 3:56 PM

Illinois senior placekicker Derek Dimke put his reputation in the hands of a rookie. A walk-on wide receiver who played quarterback at St. Charles East High School, sophomore Tim Russell might be the most important element in the performance of Dimke, the Rockford Boylan graduate who was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award last season. When punter Anthony Santella completed his career in the Texas Bowl, Dimke lost his reliable holder.

John Supinie

CHAMPAIGN -- Illinois senior placekicker Derek Dimke put his reputation in the hands of a rookie.

A walk-on wide receiver who played quarterback at St. Charles East High School, sophomore Tim Russell might be the most important element in the performance of Dimke, the Rockford Boylan graduate who was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award last season. When punter Anthony Santella completed his career in the Texas Bowl, Dimke lost his reliable holder.

"Derek needed to find one,'' Russell said. "Coach (Ron) Zook told him he's got to pick. Derek knew I had good hands. He trusted me to get the job done.''

Illinois hosts Arkansas State in the season opener at Memorial Stadium on Saturday (2:30 p.m., BTN). Dimke became reliable last season after taking over the job midway through his sophomore year. He was 24 for 29 on field goals and made all 43 extra points to earn second-team all-Big Ten.

His 115 points rank second on the Illini's single-season scoring list, behind the 122 points Mikel Leshoure put up last season.

Dimke made 85.3 percent of his field goal attempts in the first two seasons, putting him atop the school's list.

"He's got a chance to be one of the best kickers in the country,'' said Zook, who could "absolutely'' see Dimke playing on Sundays a year from now.

A holder's job isn't noticed until it's messed up. After taking the snap from Zak Pedersen, Russell must catch and place the ball on the predetermined spot within 1.15 seconds.

"I'm only 20 percent of the kick,'' Dimke said. "The snapper is 40 percent and the holder is 40 percent. If they do their jobs perfectly, my job is a whole lot easier. If they don't do their job, I can't do mine.''

Dimke is the first to say that Pedersen and Santella "were perfect a lot of the time,'' he said. Now comes a new challenge for Dimke and his team within the team.

"I need to make the kick even if he doesn't have the perfect hold or the perfect snap,'' Dimke said. "I can't rely on them being perfect every single time. I make Tim's job a little harder. I make him practice all the time.''

Dimke made Russell's job easier by just asking him to catch the snap and place ball with no lean. Russell's handle improved after a rough spring, when the converted wide receiver caught the snap and unconsciously included a hitch like a pass catcher bringing it to his body. Despite performing the role for the first time in high school or college, Russell grasped the concept.

"I'm the person who never wants publicity,'' Russell said.

A junior from Joliet Catholic, Pedersen will serve as long snapper for the second season, and he's doing his part to make Russell's job easier. The goal: the snap will have about five rotations when it reaches Russell's hands. By improving his technique, Pedersen attempted to put the ball in Russell's hands so there's no need to spin the laces toward the goal posts.

The laces will already face away from Dimke's foot. That's how NFL long snappers do it, Pedersen said.

"We're trying to be held to the same standards as the guys in the league,'' Pedersen said. "That's how those long snappers do it.''

Pedersen and Russell put in 50 to 75 snaps each day during the summer, knowing Russell was on a crash course.

"Our kicker has an opportunity to have a great year,'' Pedersen said. "We want to help out as much as possible. The details are so small, but it makes a big difference.''

BASKETBALL: Following the exhibition tour to Italy, coach Bruce Weber has plenty of coaching points heading into the week. The Illini begin individual workouts of up to four players at a time for a total of two hours per week. There's the good (uptempo game derived from defense), the bad (too many turnovers per game) and the ugly (defensive rebounding) from Italy.

"Defensive rebounding, that was a little alarming,'' Weber said. "Meyers (Leonard) has to get 10 to 12 rebounds a game. He's got to make a decision. He dominates the boards. He's got to approach the game much more seriously and understand you have to play hard all the time. (Freshman forward) Mike Shaw showed signs of being active.''

Of course, there are those life-long memories, such as the trip to the Vatican, recalled assistant coach Jerrance Howard.

"And I'm a Baptist,'' he said.

IN OTHER NEWS: Illini volleyball, ranked No. 7, hosts Tennessee at 7 p.m. Friday in the Stuff Huff promotion after defeating BYU, Cal-Santa Barabara and St. Mary's to win the BYU Nike Classic over the weekend. Illinois (3-0 overall) was 14-1 at home last season. The Illini men's basketball team works the grill to feed the first 2,000 university students prior to the event. The Tennessee match is the first round of the State Farm Illini Classic. Illinois faces Houston (10 a.m.) and Dayton (7:30 p.m.) on Saturday. ... Illinois women's soccer (4-0) hosts Southern Cal on Friday in a rematch of an NCAA Tournament contest last season won by the Trojans. ... After qualifying for the semifinals in the 110-high hurdles at the World Championships, Illini senior Andrew Riley clocked a 13.75 seconds Monday and didn't advance to the final.

John Supinie can be reached at Johnsupinie@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnSupinie.

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